Laughter and Friendship

The photo shoot for trailers and to provide short teasers took over 5 hours. I have a new respect for actors and film crew! The need to repeat scenes so different angles can be obtained, the equipment checks and failures that cause the scene to be repeated over and over both amazed and annoyed me. I don't know how everyone can stay so calm and the actors so willing to say the same lines over and over again. That ability is lost on me. When I am working with a dying patient there are no do-overs, no second chances to make things perfect. Maybe secretly I envy having that do-over option.

Timmy and Jon did a great job with their characters and I appreciate how important it is to them to portray their characters correctly. Even in this situation humor was helpful to diffuse the tension, help everyone relax, and helped to find the energy to keep going. It is really the same for any of us as we travel through life, and especially for the dying. Nothing forced or over the top, just a light comment that makes someone smile.

I laughed at Timmy as he had to deal with some light makeup application to cut down any glare. He told me to make him look like a princess. The comment made me laugh because Timmy's baseline is  the macho dedicated rock-and-roller. His princess request was completely out of character and may have provided a new nickname for him!

Jon was great as Cooper. He has these great facial expressions he can take on almost instantly and a great laugh. I was amazed how much he reminded me of the real person I based his character on. I recalled how blessed I was to be a part of  that patient's life. I really wanted someone to do Cooper's part justice, and I think Jon is just the man. His already established friendship with Timmy, and both of their dedication to this project will make this movie very special.

Erik worked his butt off. He was so in to doing a good job and shares lots of great ideas. I was glad he was starting to mesh well with Allen and they began to really work as a team.

My proudest moment was about Allen. I decided I wanted to write the movie script based on my book Resilient Hearts because I wanted to give Allen an opportunity to direct. Allen was so into all aspects of filming the shorts yesterday that he just seemed to glow. He was so focused and was so busy running around with all the technical things that go into filming when. I could tell he was in his glory and I know the finished product will be amazing.

Now I need to help more with obtaining funding, and finish painting the statue of Mary . This movie making stuff is not easy.  Tomorrow is the auditions!!